1. What Third Shift telehealth will be
Third Shift plans to deliver care primarily through asynchronous (store-and-forward) telehealth: you complete a written intake and send information when it suits your schedule, and a licensed clinician reviews it and responds. Where clinically needed or legally required, care moves to a live video or phone visit, or to in-person care.
2. What asynchronous care means for you
Async care is a review-and-respond model, not a live conversation. Response time targets will be published at launch and treated as service commitments. Until then, any response-time language on this site describes a design goal, not a live capability. Async care is suitable only for conditions that can safely wait for a scheduled response.
3. Emergencies and crisis
Telehealth of any kind is not for emergencies. Call 911 for chest pain, trouble breathing, signs of stroke, overdose, or any situation that feels dangerous. For a mental health crisis, call or text 988 at any hour. Do not wait on an async response for any of these.
4. Prescriptions
Whether any medication is prescribed is always an individual clinical decision by a licensed clinician, and the decision can be no. Some medications relevant to shift work disorder are federally controlled substances: whether they can be prescribed by telehealth depends on federal telemedicine rules in force at the time, and an in-person examination may be required. Non-drug treatment is the first line of every Third Shift plan. Where a medication is proposed for an off-label use, the clinician will say so plainly during the visit.
5. Licensure and location
Care will be provided only by clinicians licensed in the state where you are located at the time of the visit, and only in states where Third Shift operates. You will be asked to confirm your location as part of each intake.
6. Privacy of health information
Health information collected in care programs will be handled under HIPAA and applicable state law, as described in the privacy notice in force at launch. The preview site you are reading collects no health information.
7. Risks and limits of telehealth
Telehealth has limits: no physical examination, dependence on the accuracy of what you report, and the possibility of technical failure. If your clinician decides telehealth is not appropriate for your situation, you will be referred to in-person care.
8. Your rights
You will be able to decline or withdraw consent to telehealth at any time and seek in-person care instead, without penalty beyond the practical consequences of not receiving the service.